Quick Overview
The Black Morass held the Dark Portal through which the Horde first entered Azeroth. Its swamps became the starting ground of the First War against Stormwind. When the Alliance later fought to seal the gateway, the region again became central to the fate of two worlds.
Full History
Before the First War, the people of Stormwind knew the Black Morass as a difficult southern wilderness rather than the birthplace of an invasion. That changed when Medivh and Gul'dan opened the Dark Portal. Orcish warriors crossed from Draenor into the swamps, established footholds, and began testing the defenses of the nearby human kingdom.
Early clashes in the marshes made the scale of the threat difficult for Stormwind to grasp. Anduin Lothar and his soldiers confronted enemies arriving through an unseen gateway, while further orcish forces continued to appear. The skirmishes widened into a war that ended with the fall of Stormwind and the flight of its survivors to Lordaeron.
The region remained important through the Second War. Blackhand's sons, Rend and Maim, led the Black Tooth Grin clan in guarding the gateway for the Horde. When the Alliance drove the invading armies south again, its leaders faced the Portal itself. Destroying the passage cut the immediate route between worlds, but the Black Morass had already changed Azeroth's history beyond reversal.
The Living Archive · Subject Chronicle
Through History
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